Odisha’s Bhubaneswar railway station soon to get a makeover

Odisha government and East Coast Railway have decided to give a new look to Bhubaneswar railway station in PPP (Public-Private Partnership) mode at an estimated cost of Rs 80 crore.

Work on this ambitious project is scheduled to begin from this December.

The detailed project report features a six-storeyed parking complex at the bus terminus near the railway station at Master Canteen square.

The underground parking lot of this complex would have a capacity to park 1065 bicycles in a 2000 sq meter area and another 2000 sq meter space would be reserved for equal number of two-wheelers. The 4000 sq meter ground floor would be able to accommodate another 3190 two-wheelers. While the first floor would house the passenger reservation office, stalls and security establishment, the top five floors would accommodate 120 cars each.

The structure will have four elevators, one staircase and another emergency exit staircase.

Besides, the main station area would also be developed as part of the project. The two-storeyed main building would be renovated to house accommodation facilities for the passengers.

As per information provided by the State Transport Department, the ground floor would feature an upper class waiting room for 150 passengers, second class waiting room for 250 passengers, 15 UTS counters, one inquiry counter, VIP lounge for 25 passengers, eight stalls and seating arrangements for 200 passengers.

The mezzanine floor would house a restaurant that can provide service to 100 customers at a time, a 50-bed executive lounge and 10 shops. The first floor will feature a 20 bed air-conditioned dormitory, 20 bed non air-conditioned dormitory, seven four-bed air conditioned rooms, five double-bed air-conditioned rooms.

It may be noted that nearly seven lakh passengers use the railway station every month. More than 120 trains originate or pass through the Bhubaneswar railway station every day. With an annual footfall growth of 20 per cent, the passengers have been demanding additional platforms for quite some time now. Recently, on the eve of Nabakalebara, two new platforms were inaugurated taking the total number of platforms in the station to six.